


Pavlov

by Diabolical_Pink_Bunny



Series: Stargate: Atlantis. Season 6 [5]
Category: Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-03
Updated: 2014-09-27
Packaged: 2018-02-16 00:06:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 22,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2248533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diabolical_Pink_Bunny/pseuds/Diabolical_Pink_Bunny
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Atlanteans are back in the Pegasus Galaxy and life seems to be returning to normal - normal, that is, for Atlantis. Though life wasn't always easy in Atlantis, is was always interesting: and never has it been more interesting for Rodney than now. Jack O'Neill had given Sinalta a puppy as parting gift and somehow Rodney and the dog just can't seem to work out their differences. But Sitnalta loves the dog and Rodney loves Sitnalta, so when the dog disappears through the stagate one day, Rodney drags the entire SGA-1 team in search of it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The next chapter in my ongoing series, 'Pavlov' is much lighter than 'Avenues.,' but none the less important. Enjoy!

Rodney McKay looked at the little brown box in his hands. The ring nestled in there was worth a small fortune. It was big and shiny and pretty.

Sitnalta would hate it. Rodney might not be the world's foremost expert on human behaviour, but he knew his lover and she would hate the big, useless rock.

He sighed and put it in his pocket. He had bought the ring years ago when – for a while there – he had thought of proposing to Katie Brown. It had never come to that, though. Sitnalta had arrived on the scene and somehow Katie had slipped his mind. Maybe he should feel bad about that.

Or maybe not. Katie was happily married to another plants-guy and the two of them, along with that strange plant she had named after Rodney, seemed to be very happy. And of course, Rodney was deliriously happy with Sitnalta. She might be a handful, but he had never been as happy in his life as when he was with her.

He picked up his jacket and headed out of his office. He had an appointment he did not want to miss. Not again, anyway. The lady he had the appointment with had lots of really sharp tools and the way she had looked at him the last time he had been late, was enough to ensure he was aware of the fact that she also knew how to use those tools.

Besides, it was time to get rid of the big ring.

As he left the lab – where he had been hiding the ring – he nearly bumped into John Sheppard. The chief military commander seemed distracted, but even so he greeted Rodney.

"Hey, just the man I was looking for," John perked up. Rodney wondered what was broken and whether Radek Zelenka could fix it instead. Oh, right, Zelenka was off-world.

"What now?" Rodney grumbled.

"I don't know if you've noticed," John continued without taking any notice of Rodney's mood, "but Elizabeth has been acting strange lately. She seems kind of snappy," the pilot – among other things – explained.

Rodney groaned. "Do we have to discuss this? I'm late for a meeting."

For a while the two of them continued in silence. In truth, life on Atlantis has been rather boring these past few months and it seemed as if everyone was edgy because of it. It might become tiring: fighting the Wraith and all, but it was a life all of them had chosen. Those not strong enough to face the Pegasus Galaxy had already been expelled: they were the ones that had stayed behind on earth. But for almost five months now – ever since they've arrived back on Lantea – the most interesting thing that had happened had been Pavlov, Rodney and Sitnalta's overgrown puppy.

In a way it had been John that had named the dog. Right from the start the dog had proven to be extremely enthusiastic, but also rather untrainable. No matter how much Rodney had tried, the dog only had two tricks. One of them – the one that annoyed Rodney the most – was that the dog had figured out how to work the control crystals that opened the doors. From the moment the dog had been tall enough to reach them, he had been able to open the doors. Rodney was sure the crystals shouldn't be responding to a dog-nose, but it was and since then the dog had been running around all over the city.

Of course – just to add spice to his life – the dog would not come when Rodney called. Well, it didn't have a name then, but Rodney was sure it should be responding to: "Hey, come back here, you mangy mutt!" As it didn't, Rodney ended up chasing it all over the city. It had become a rather familiar scene: the long-legged Golden Retriever/Great Dane running with a wide grin on its face and Rodney running behind it; shouting.

It had been during one of these stunts, as the dog had run through the control-room, that John had smirked and told Elizabeth: "It's almost pavlovian: the dog runs and Rodney chases him." Elizabeth had raised an eyebrow and said in all seriousness: "If it's pavlovian, that makes the dog Pavlov."

As fate would have it, Sitnalta had just come up the steps at the back and had overheard Elizabeth's comment. After John and Elizabeth had explained its meaning, Sitnalta had smiled serenely. That same day still the rumour had spread and the dog's name had become well established. John thought it was a bit of elegant revenge (Rodney had once said he was pavlovian, that time they had discovered the  _Aurora_ ), Sitnalta was happy that her dog finally had a name and Rodney was miffed that it was at his expense. All in all, everyone was happy – except Rodney, of course, but only until Sitnalta had been  _very_  nice about saying sorry that night.

"How are the Athosians settling in?" Rodney finally asked in an effort to break the silence.

"Oh," John said while raising his eyebrows. "Teyla and Ronon should be back from the mainland by tomorrow," the other man replied. Once more they ran out of things to say.

But the fact was that though life had become familiar, much of that was due to certain decisions that had taken weeks of arguing. The first of these had been the planet they would settle on. For a while they had considered finding a new planet and settling there. That had seemed the simplest. But then Teyla had pointed out that they already had a planet they had comprehensive data on: Lantea, the planet they had found Atlantis on five years ago. After that statement, the arguments had been tossed back and forth for a long while, but it had merely been as an afterthought: everyone had known Teyla had been correct: Atlantis belonged on Lantea. So they had returned there and had activated the cloak. Everyone was happy.

Another matter in the lives of the Atlanteans had been the matter of food: for years now they had become dependent on the provisions brought by the  _Daedalus_. And though they had brought numerous seeds and livestock (yes, that had been extremely difficult in bringing to the city when they had been raiding earth), they stil needed somewhere to grow this – as well as people to grow it. It seemed that among the entire group from earth, there were only three with farming experience in the mix. They were going to need farmers: no-one liked the idea of living on those tava-beans Teyla had introduced them to.

Again Teyla had been the one to come up with the good idea: why not ask the Athosians to come back? They were great farmers and after the Atlanteans had saved them from Michael, they might just be willing to return to Lantea and live on the mainland again.

It turned out Teyla was right: most of the Athosians were willing to come back to Lantea. Only Halling, his family and another family decided to stay behind on the planet they were on. This broke Teyla's heart and for a while Elizabeth had tried talking to the man. She had even suggested the Athosians stay on the planet they were on. But it had seemed that most of the Athosians had felt lost without Teyla and really wanted to return to Lantea where she could be near them. And Halling had been adamant. So Teyla's people had split. Yet that had happened months ago already, and everyone was finding a new balance again. The Athosians were busy with the planting of crops and Ronon had taken Teyla's well-being on him. All in all, everything was going great. Teyla even got to spend a number of weekends with her people now.

"When's Zelenka coming back?" John asked this time.

Rodney only turned his head slightly to his friend. "We received word that the villages were nearly packed. And the shield should be ready for transport as soon as the villages are ready."

"Ah," John replied, the conversation grinding to a halt once more.

One of the first planets they had visited in their first year on Atlantis, had been M7G-677. It was the planet with all the kids: kids that were growing fast. Keras – the leader – had turned thirty-one only a few weeks after Atlantis had returned to Lantea. Some of the Atlanteans had gone to celebrate the day with him. That was when Rodney had discovered that due to a solar shift, the geo-electrical field of their planet had changed. The device that had caused the shut-down of technology needed that geo-electrical field to operate. But now, because of the change in that field, the device no longer functioned. The kids were vulnerable to the Wraith once more.

So Atlantis had offered sanctuary. Well, the deal had been that Atlantis got the device and would fiddle with it; hoping to make it work on Lantea. Meanwhile the kids could join the Athosians on the mainland if they wanted. Because Atlantis has advanced warning systems in place, the kids could be offered shelter in the city whenever the Wraith was near.

This had been decided a month ago. Zelenka had been the unfortunate scientist that had to lead the team removing the device, but now he was due back any day – device and kids in tow.

Finally the two friends turned a corner. Next to one of the doors a neat little sign read:  _Sophia's_. This was where Rodney was headed. Sophia was the sister of one of the marines that had joined the expedition. And though Rodney had always thought people that fiddled with stones and metal and then called themselves jewellers were strange, the image had never included Sophia's sarcastic look or the short-cropped red hair she sported.

She scared Rodney slightly. But she was good – and the only one of her trade on Atlantis. She also thought it was awesome that precious metals were considered worthless on Atlantis – Atlanteans held much stock by naqwada and any metal used to operate the city, but had little time for gold (except as a super-conductor, but then again, who needed super-conductors when they had crystal-technology?). Therefore any metals found were simply  _given_  to her. Never before had any jeweller had the freedom of unlimited resources without having to pay for it.

Rodney waved his hand over the control crystals and the door slid open. They stepped in. Behind the counter Sophia smiled, but she did so while glaring at them over the top of her glasses. It was this look that gave Rodney chills.

"You've come to collect your ring?" she asked. Rodney nodded: that had not been a question, he was sure.

She reached down behind the counter. When she straightened, she was holding a small engraved wooden box. She flipped it open to reveal the ring nestled inside. When Rodney had come to order the ring almost three weeks ago, he had asked her to make him something that  _was_  Atlantis. And now he had to admit the woman had done exactly that.

He picked up the ring and turned it around in his hands. From the side it looked like a small stargate. But running around the edge were the seven symbols that dialled Atlantis. No: he was wrong. It only had six of the seven home-address symbols engraved on it. Where the seventh should be, a single blue sapphire was nestled in the metal.

"I hope that diamond you promised is big enough for two other rings," Sophia piped up. "It's not that I mind working with new metals, but that naqwada alloy you brought me was a bitch to work with," she grumbled.

Rodney reached into his pocket. "Oh, yeah," he said as he did so. He removed the diamond ring and handed it to the jeweller. She opened the box and smiled. Well, she had better: that was a two-carat diamond she was holding!

"This will do," she told him. Then she smiled at him. "Let me know what Sitnalta thinks of it," she said before dismissing them.

Within seconds Rodney and John found themselves back in the hallway.

"Wow, it's like talking to a Wraith queen!" John exclaimed.

"Tell me about it," Rodney muttered. "She had all these ideas about the ring and all I could do was nod."

"So," John drawled as they finally set off, back the way they had come. "When is the big day?"


	2. Chapter 2

Rodney McKay walked down the hallway, grinning. He was sure Sitnalta would love the ring. And he knew she loved him, so he was sure she would gladly accept his proposal. She had been nagging at him about it for a while. What could go wrong?

No, really, what could go wrong? His grin faltered and his footsteps slowed as his treacherous thoughts started listing everything that actually could go wrong. For a start, it could turn out that she doesn't like the ring. Then it could be that he faltered with the words and ended up making a mess of it. And of course it could be that she doesn't want to get married yet. She was very young, after all.

But she had been created for him, had she not? And she  _had_  been reading all those books about lovers and stuff and she liked the idea of getting married. Once more he perked up as he listed reasons why she would accept his marriage proposal. In fact, anyone observing him would have been able to hear some of this inner dialogue, as at times the inner dialogue turned into an outer dialogue. His grin would spread over his face, only to falter moments later. But then he would perk up again and his steps would hasten slightly.

As it turned out, Rodney was still a few feet away from their room – and around a corner from it – when he heard the yell and the sound of something shattering. Aware that though Atlantis was relatively safe, it had happened before that a Wraith had snuck unto the city.  He felt a cold dread wash over him. Without thinking about it, he ran the last few steps to their room. The crystals responded instantly to his touch and the doors slid open.

Rodney had fully expected to find Sitnalta fighting for her life. Instead he found a vastly different scene as he ran into the room. His lover sat on the bed, angrily trying to open a jar of pickles. And though this was unexpected, the true unexpected thing was the thick pink stain against the wall. In fact, it was not so much a stain yet as it was thick pink goo slowly sliding down the wall. There was also a clump of it already pooled on the floor, along with what seemed to be the remains of a glass jar. If he had to guess, he would say that Sitnalta had thrown a jar of some preserve against the wall and it was this dripping down it. Pavlov sat next to Sitnalta on the bed with big sad eyes.

"What happened here?" he asked. Tentatively he walked into the room, the ring still clutched in his hand.

Sitnalta turned big blue eyes on him. "I really wanted some Athosian gato-berry jelly with pickles," she informed him, almost as if this explained everything. "But I couldn't get the bottle open."

He looked at the mess, suddenly sad. That jelly had been given to him by the Athosians when he had visited the village the day they had asked them if they wanted to return to Atlantis. The gato-berry only grew on that planet and the bottle of preserve was something he would probably never again have. And it had been divine.

"So you broke the bottle because you couldn't get it open?" he asked; baffled. He saw the black look she gave him, but instead of backing away, he dug himself in deeper. "Here, give me that," he said as he walked up to the bed where she was sitting and took the bottle of pickles from her grip. With a single smooth motion he opened it. He grinned as he handed the bottle and lid back to her.

Rodney had honestly thought he was doing the right thing, one had to admit. So it came as a complete surprise when she started yelling at him and chucked the open bottle of pickles at him. He ducked in time and the green fruit joined the pink jelly on the wall and ground. For a split-second he considered talking to her, but by then she had grabbed Pavlov around the neck and was sobbing into the golden fur.

"Sitnalta," he started, wanting to comfort her. But she lifted her tear-streaked face just long enough to yell at him.

"Just go away!" she told him.

And so Rodney McKay beat a hasty retreat, leaving his lover and her dog to sort out their mess.

#####

Deep in the bowels of Atlantis was a room that might once have been a storeroom. But a while back Radek Zelenka and Rodney had secretly added a new feature: a still. Among those things being distilled, was the same Athosian gato-berries, creating some of the most potent and tasty moonshine Rodney had ever tasted. Of course the distillery had not remained secret, and now it had turned into a gathering-ground for the male members of the Atlantis crew. Sometime later someone else had added a brewery, and though the beer was not near anything found on earth, one got used to the taste of it.

Now Rodney sat at one of the tables, drinking moonshine. As time had passed, the men had started bringing in odd pieces of furniture. So now the room was decorated on one end by mismatched chairs and a few tables. Next to Rodney sat John Sheppard, also nursing a drink.

In fact, quite a number of men had recently joined Rodney for a drink. The South Africans had given the place one look and dubbed it the 'shebeen.' As it turned out, the Irish had a similar word for an illegal bar: 'sibin.' They even pronounced it the same, instantly forging a bond between the two groups.

John, like a number of men not on duty, had found their way down to the secret room. There was no waiter or barman, but then again, there was also no tab. Usually the shebeen was rowdy, but tonight most men seem distracted and few groups had formed. Instead each seemed preoccupied with their own thoughts. John knew he had no desire to speak to anyone. He was also aware that he should not be here, but should be in the rooms he shared with Elizabeth. But she had been working late tonight and he had returned home to find it empty of her. Earlier Rodney had asked him for a drink and so he’d gone to join his friend. Rodney seemed to be upset about something Sitnalta had done, but the story was unbelievable. Obviously she was suffering from the same thing many of the other women seemed to be suffering from.

It was this that had John worried. Firstly and foremost he was worried about Elizabeth. Their relationship was still knew and sparkly, but he lived with the constant fear of losing her. That fear was already enough to keep him up some nights and merely lie beside her and look at his lover. But now the thought that she – as well as a great number of the other women in Atlantis – might be suffering from an illness, was causing a cold lump of fear to settle in his stomach. Atlantis had always been a dangerous place, but never before had he really considered the implications of families living here.

It didn’t help that he had somehow emotionally taken on the responsibility of the safety of the entire city. He knew he was just the military commander, but he still felt responsible for every single person in the city. Besides, he should have been the one to put a stop to their hare-brained scheme of stealing Atlantis five months ago. Then none of the women would be in danger now.

As Rodney brought over another refill on his beer, John started to realise he was just feeling sorry for himself: the kind of sorry one could only feel after too much to drink.

“Man, you look down,” a rough voice beside him spoke as Ronon sat down next to him and placed a tin mug in front of him.

“He’s been like that all night,” Rodney tried to explain.

“Perhaps he should go home then?” Ronon joked and John scowled at him. But the joking didn’t help his mood at all. For one, he didn’t like the implication that being in a relationship was something bad. Anyway, Ronon still griped about his long lost love. Marlena? Mirana? Maggie? He just couldn’t remember right now.

Also, he was starting to feel slightly woozy in the head from the strange brew they seemed to consider as ‘beer.’ He had a nasty suspicion the alcohol content was much higher than he was used to. Once he might have been able to drink with the best of them, but life on Atlantis hadn’t offered too many chances of drink and he was starting to realise his greatest drinking days were behind him.

And, of course, aside from the self-pity he was developing from the dark brew, he really was worried about Elizabeth and the rest of the women. They really were alone out here and they needed every one of those who had come with to be healthy.

Just then the sound of doggy footsteps interrupted his glare at Ronon before Rodney was thrown against him as Pavlov bowled him over with enthusiasm.

“Pavlov, get off, you mutt!” Rodney yelled right in John’s ear, but by the time John and the rest of them looked up, a new voice had joined the fray.

“What’s going on here?” Sitnalta asked as she stood with her hands firmly planted on her hips ad glared at Rodney. She even spared a moment to glare at John and Ronon.

It was then that John realised Elizabeth stood right behind her friend and looked equally upset.

In a moment he would soon realise was one of the stupidest in a long time – well, after a few other moments that sprang to mind – John picked up the shot of moonshine Ronon had placed before him and downed it.

“Wow…” Ronon began, but John already knew it was too late. The fiery liquor made him gasp for breath and as the single berry that had been in it exploded, it seemed to take off a layer of skin in his mouth. The mouthful of liquid was also much larger than he had expected.

“What was that?” he gasped.


	3. Chapter 3

John was still feeling slightly vulnerable after last night's visit to the shebeen – and the double shot of moonshine certainly hadn't helped. It had been the last drink for the evening – the women had discovered their secret lair only moments later – but it had been enough to ensure a rather spectacular hangover this morning. Actually, John's mood was made as sour by the hangover as much as by Elizabeth's scolding after the men had been discovered. She had seemed unreasonably miffed at the fact that the men had been making their own liquor. She also – at some length – explained to him about setting an example.

The pilot slunk down the hallway, squinting behind his sunglasses and wondering what was wrong with all the women in the city. It really wasn't his imagination that many of them – Elizabeth included – was acting peculiar.

When he was still halfway to the mess hall, he heard his name called from behind.

"Colonel Sheppard!" With a grimace John turned around to find Evan Lorne hurrying up to him.

"Yes, Lieutenant," he asked the younger man. "Can I help you?"

Evan waited until he was near John before continuing. As he drew near John realised the man looked a bit on edge.

"Colonel, I need to talk to you," Evan nearly whispered.

"Well, what is it?" John asked, frowning. He really wanted to get to the mess hall and some strong coffee.

"Um, not here," Evan said; looking around as if afraid someone might overhear.

Now John's hackles rose. Evan was a stable member of Atlantis who had joined the expedition over four years ago. Since then the young man had proven his worth on Atlantis time and again. If he was anxious about something it was probably something worth listening to.

"In here," John said, indicating the transporter that was just a few steps away from them. The two men stepped into the small space – John wishing Evan could have left off on his crisis until he had had some coffee – and they transported to an unpopulated part of the city.

Finally they stepped into the hallway. "Okay, what's wrong?" John demanded.

Evan still looked a bit harassed and John's worry increased. What could have the younger man so on edge?

"You know that Jeannie and I have been spending some time together, right?" the younger man finally asked. John frowned.

"Jeannie, as in McKay's little sister?" John asked. If he remembered correctly it had been Evan and Sitnalta that had gone to fetch Jeannie a few months ago when the latter had been distressed about her husband.

"Yes," Evan admitted and the fear John had felt increased. Had something happened to the lovely woman? Rodney would be devastated.

But then again, why tell him and not Rodney?

"Look, am I going to have to drag it out of you?" John scowled.

"She's pregnant," Evan blurted out.

This statement seemed unrelated to anything John might have expected from Evan, and for a moment John simply looked at the young officer.

"I'm no expert on babies," John finally began, talking slowly, "but it would seem that even if Jeannie had fallen pregnant the night you went to fetch her, it would have been obvious to everybody by now that she was..." John trailed off. Then he made a roundish motion with his hands near his stomach. "That she was with child," he finally managed an explanation.

"No!" Evan spat. "I would never do that to a woman as obviously distressed as she had been!" he nearly exploded.

John frowned. "Then..." but even as he spoke a new – and disturbing – thought replaced his earlier assumptions.

"Just how much time have the two of you been spending together, Lieutenant?" John asked; giving Evan a sidelong look that indicated exactly how stupid he thought the young man was.

"It would seem enough," Evan regrouped and retaliated.

Oh dear, John thought, he really needed that cup of coffee!

"You know Rodney will probably kill you, right?" John finally asked, rubbing his aching forehead.

"That's why I came to you," Evan responded.

This caught John's attention. He was aware that the city lacked a therapist, but when had he become one? There was no way in hell he would be able to break this news to his friend – and no way was he interested in trying.

But watching the spectacle would have been interesting, though.

He frowned at Evan. "I'm sorry, Lieutenant, but this is one battle you will have to fight on your own."

"But, sir, you're his friend. Perhaps if you could..." Evan nearly begged.

"Lorne, I am not going to be the one to tell McKay you knocked up his sister," John firmly put a stop to the conversation. "Now," John decided, not being heartless after all. "Might I suggest you leave off telling him until he is sufficiently distracted by work?" John hid a smile. "Perhaps you can get him used to the idea before he had the time to give you an earful about it?"

Evan looked dejected. "I was hoping your presence might soften the blow," he grumbled.

"I doubt if anything might soften the blow," John mused. "But you might consider talking to Sitnalta about it," he suggested.

This did not seem to cheer Evan considerably. "She has been acting rather strangely these past few weeks."

"Yeah, a lot of the women have," John mused, thinking of Elizabeth's strange behaviour. Even when angry at him, she seldom did more than narrow her eyes at him and tell him what an ass he had been. But last night she had first glowered at him (and tightened her lips). He had known he was in trouble, but she had not spoken a single word to him until they had gotten back to their room. Then she had looked at him with her big eyes before breaking down and crying. For some women this might be normal – not for Elizabeth. "I wonder if they might be infected by something."

In spite of himself Evan had to consider this. "Something that only infects the women?" he asked.

Put like that it did seem unlikely. But this was the Pegasus galaxy. "It might be possible," John scowled. "The Ancients did build that thing that caused people to develop exploding tumours," he explained. "Who knows what else they might have built."

Actually, when he thought about it, the Ancients seemed to have been psycho-maniacs and Atlantis was just one big death-trap waiting to be sprung. It was incredible that the most of them had survived in the city for as long as they have.

"You know, I think I'll ask the Becketts to look into it," John decided. "They seem to have a knack for working with women," he said, already turning to the transporter.

"It's the accent," Evan explained before noticing John was leaving. "Hey, what about Doctor McKay?" he called after the departing figure.

Just as the doors slid closed, John turned to smile at the marine. "Sorry, I can't help you with that. You're on your own."

The doors slid shut and John touched the screen that activated the transporter. As his molecules were being disassembled, he pondered the wisdom of Lorne having an affair with Rodney's little sister.


	4. Chapter 4

"Are you out of your mind?" Rodney yelled at the young woman sitting casually in the rocking chair. He remembered he had given her the chair when she had announced she was pregnant with Madison years ago. As he recall the chair had been a gift in an attempt to mollify her after a conversation that seemed related to the one they were having right now. If he remembered correctly she had told him to shove the chair where the sun never shone – especially after they had started on another argument concerning Caleb. He had left the chair on her porch and stalked off in a huff. That had been their last conversation for years and he had thought she had given the chair away. That she had considered it worth the effort to bring to Atlantis years later touched him.

Too bad he was too mad at her right now to really appreciate the fact.

"Shh, you'll wake Madison," Jeannie Miller – scientist, younger sister to Rodney and mother of one – calmly told her excited brother. This, of course, only made him even madder. There is nothing like the dynamics between siblings to arouse passions.

"With the exception of me, you are the smartest person in the Pegasus Galaxy. But once more you chose the dumbest person around to get you pregnant!" Rodney yelled at her. She glared at him: full marks for sibling dynamics.

"You are an arrogant, selfish idiot, you know that?" she yelled back at him; getting up out of her chair, adding emphasis to her words. "You fly around in spaceships and live in a city filled with ghosts and demon-traps," she gestured wildly. "And the only girls you've ever brought home were either as plain as dirt or only three years old and the physical incarnation of the self-same city you live in!"

"At least Sitnalta is smarter than dirt!" he retorted; aware the comeback was rather pathetic. It was just that Jeannie made him so mad! Ever since their parents died, he had been responsible for her. Yet, for all his smarts, he had never been smart enough to figure her out. Even Sitnalta was less of a mystery than his own sister.

But then again, Sitnalta was born as part of Atlantis, and like the city she was complicated and wonderful, but there was a calculated logic to most of her actions. Except these past few days; that is. The wall in their room still bore the pink stain.

"And what would Mom and Dad have said about you falling for a clone?" Jeannie retorted. Her comeback was not up to standard, either.

"You leave Mom and Dad out of this!" he shot at her, suddenly hurt. Wasn't he the one who had every right to be mad at his little sister for falling pregnant with a man unworthy af her?

"Why should I?" She glared at him some more. "Besides, what right do you have for criticizing me? I only told you about being pregnant to prevent you trying to hit Evan if he told you. You remember how well that worked out for you last time," she sneered.

"That was a low blow," he growled.

She grinned; aware she had scored a point and thus relaxed slightly. "And if I remember correctly, Caleb's blow laid you low for half an hour."

"Yes, totally endearing him to me," Rodney remarked, but his heart wasn't in it: the memory of his fight with Caleb years ago still stung. Rodney had confronted Caleb about getting Jeannie pregnant (something she seemed to like repeating), but the main fight had been about Caleb wanting to marry Jeannie. Caleb had been a scrawny, unworthy little man and Rodney had tried to punch him in the heat of the moment. Unfortunately Rodney had not been aware of the fact that Caleb had a black belt in Karate.

"Just please tell me you don't intend to marry Lorne," Rodney finally asked; deflated. One useless brother-in-law was enough.

"Why don't you like him?" Jeannie wanted to know.

Rodney frowned. "I like Lorne well enough He just isn't worthy of you," he answered. Which seemed to be the wrong thing to say, as her she narrowed her eyes at him once more.

"Who are you, Rodney Meredith McKay, to tell me who is and isn't worthy of me? I have never passed any judgement on your affair with Sitnalta – heaven knows I'm only too happy there is someone in this galaxy who seems to be able to make you happy – but you feel this obsessive need to criticize everyone that makes  _me_  happy!"

Rodney actually took a step backwards at her words – almost as if she had slapped him. And she was right, of course. The lost years between them had been his fault and he had finally reached a point in his life where he regretted that. Perhaps it was because for the first time he belonged somewhere; felt part of a family. Even if that family was an odd assortment of people. Maybe it was that he had finally realised family was worth having. Or just maybe it was because Jeannie had come here when she had been hurt and had decided she would start her life somewhere where Rodney belonged.

Probably all of those reasons caused Rodney to regret walking out on her years ago. Fortunately it seemed families were good at forgiving and he knew Jeannie had forgiven him. But right now they seemed to be backsliding and he didn't like that at all.

 _Doctor McKay_ , his earpiece crackled. He recognised Elizabeth's voice.

"Yes," he asked while still looking at his sister's sad face.

 _Have you forgotten about the meeting? We're just waiting for you_ , Elizabeth snapped. Rodney frowned for a moment – this snappy tone was quite unlike her.

"I'm on my way," he replied. He looked at his sister. "This conversation isn't over," he told her.

She glowered at him. "Oh, yes it is!" she insisted.

He could almost see the distance growing between them. But this time he wasn't going to allow it. In an uncharacteristically vulnerable posture he shook his head and took one of her smaller hands between his. Unfortunately now that he had it he didn't know what to do with her hand, so he awkwardly patted it once.

"You don't understand, Jeannie," he tried to explain. "If Lorne makes you happy I will try and accept it. But you need to assure me that is really what  _you_  want."

For a long moment they stared at one another. Then Jeannie gave a little strangled cry and pulled her hand from his. In that heartbeat he thought he had finally said the wrong thing, but then she literally flung her arms around his neck and started to crush him in a hug. Once more he awkwardly tried to do the right thing and patted her back.

"Oh, just put your arms around me and hug me," Jeannie muttered next to his ear. And so he did. After a moment he slightly tightened his grip as he breathed in the scent of her hair. She smelled like sister and felt like family. She was Jeannie and he loved her.


	5. Chapter 5

They were sitting around the big table in the conference room: Elizabeth, John, Rodney, Sitnalta, one of the Becketts, Radek, Ronon and Teyla, discussing the immediate defensive position of the city. It helped that they had three working ZPMs, yet this only seemed to cause more problems than solutions where Rodney and Radek were concerned. The two of them were currently discussing the viability of sinking the city to the ocean floor once more, but they could not seem to agree on anything. In fact, the conversation had digressed to that peculiar swapping of ideas that seemed like total gibberish to outsiders (and like a huge fight), but seemed to excite the two scientists. Elizabeth had tuned out some of it.

"If it does not work, we can always bring the city back to the surface," Raked remarked; looking hassled.

"Yes, well, as I said before: this city is not a yo-yo. Once it is down, we stay there," Rodney sneered.

Radek responded with something incomprehensible in Czech. Rodney only pulled a face. "Perhaps they do things differently where you are from, but here we don't have the luxury of making mistakes," Rodney told his strange friend.

Though Elizabeth had long since lost the gist of the conversation – in fact, the whole thing seemed rather unnecessary – she now perked up at Rodney's remark. As Radek shot another volley for the sinking of the city at Rodney, she surreptitiously took out the little piece of cloth she carried in one of her pants' pockets. Gently she stroked the raised embroidery of the little American flag with her thumb, careful not to draw any attention to her hands. But her mind was racing.

Unfortunately the conversation between Rodney and Radek had digressed even further and Sitnalta had now joined in as well, making the conversation perhaps too heated for the meeting.

"Gentleman!" Elizabeth barked. Then she nodded towards Sitnalta in acknowledgement. "Can it be done?" she curtly asked. She knew that should she not stop the two of them, this tone of argument might continue almost indefinitely.

"Now that we have three working ZPMs, yes," Radek firmly replied. "But the power consumption..."

"As I keep pointing out!" Rodney interrupted with crooked smile and a raised finger.

"Will be enormous..." the other man continued.

"Especially as our journey here have drained almost a third of their power..." Rodney added.

"We will either have to figure out how to replace the ZPMs or we will, well," and the man shrugged, "drown," he finished.

"And even if we do replace the ZPMs this time, we will drain the new ones just as quickly," Rodney smirked.

"If we had new ZPMs, how often would we need to replace them?" Elizabeth finally got a word in.

"About every hundred and twenty months," Radek supplied. Then he shrugged. "Unless there is a big, unexpected power drain," he added.

 _Unexpected power drain_ , Elizabeth thought. Something that seemed to happen too often.

"So we have to replace them once every ten years?" she asked, trying to pin down the facts.

"Yes," Radek firmly replied.

"Not 'yes,'" Rodney said, turning head towards Radek. But before they could start up the fight once more, John obviously decided enough was enough.

"Hey!" he barked. The he spread his hands and mellowed his tone. "The good doctor asked if it would be possible to sink the city again. Either it is 'yes' or it is 'no.'"

Elizabeth had put the piece of cloth back in her pocket by now, and so she was able to bring her hands up and to fold them together in front of her. "I would prefer it if the answer was 'yes,'" she told them. "See that it happens," she ordered. Just as Rodney lifted a finger to protest, she added: "How long before we will be able to sink Atlantis again?"

"Two weeks," Radek said with a shrug.

Almost at the same time Rodney said firmly: "A month," and Sitnalta quietly added: "Two weeks."

"It would seem you have two weeks," she told the scientists. Sitnalta and Radek grinned at Rodney, who was not-so-silently seething at the idea. But Elizabeth knew he would do what he could.

"Now, sinking the city will help, but what about armed personnel?" she continued with the topic under discussion, looking at John.

#####

The meeting came to an end and everyone except Elizabeth stood up to leave. As Sitnalta passed by her seat, she gently touched her hand to hold her. The young (by any reckoning) woman sank into the seat next to Elizabeth and looked at her with her big, expectant eyes.

"What is it, love?" Sitnalta asked. She really spent too much time with the Becketts, Elizabeth smiled to herself.

"Sitnalta, Rodney was correct when he said we will need to replace our ZPMs. And I doubt the Ancients left enough lying around to last us years into the future. Especially if we sink the city again." Elizabeth slightly narrowed her eyes as she spoke and saw the gesture mirrored by Sitnalta.

"You want me to look into building our own ZPM's?" she finally asked.

"To the exclusion of all else. We cannot sink Atlantis if we are going to deplete our ZPMs within a year. You are the most likely to succeed."

Sitnalta nodded. "Okay," she replied.

"Thank you," Elizabeth said as the young woman got up and left. When she was alone once more, she took out the piece of cloth she carried in her pocket and placed it in front of her on the table. She had stopped wearing the American flag on her uniform jacket the moment she had been told she was no longer welcome on earth, yet she had felt the need to carry it with her – to feel she somehow still  _belonged_. She looked at it now. Then she reached up and removed the Atlantis-insignia she still wore on her arm and laid this next to the flag. With just the tips of her fingers she touched both emblems; slightly pushing them away from her in the process.

What Rodney had said earlier – about things being done differently in the Czech Republic – had made her think. Five months ago they had left earth behind and they had been aware they would never see it again. But still most of the military and scientific (the population of Atlantis can neatly be sorted in three different groups: Military, scientific and civilian. The original expedition members sorted into the first two groups, the ones that had joined five months ago sorted mostly into the last category) people still wore their country of origin's flag on their arm. But none of them were earthlings anymore.

And this was the problem: they might be light-years from earth, but part of them had not said their final goodbye to their planet of origin.

All of this took merely seconds for her to process, as well as what she decided to do about it. With an almost military snap she stood up and put the Atlantis badge back on her jacket. The flag she took in her hand and went after John

Running only slightly she caught up to him just outside the room the off-world teams used to gear up in.

"John!" she called and immediately he stopped and turned with a smile at her voice. Though a couple now, they still attempted to keep their relationship separate from their workplace – such as it was. But where they worked was where they lived and the boundaries often became blurred.

She stopped only a few feet from him, but he crossed the last steps and kissed her. Pulling back with a smile she looked at him. Then she saw him looking at the flag in her hand. She, too, looked down at it. Then she pointedly looked at the flag he still wore on his upper arm. It was of the same country as the one she held in her hands.

"I haven't seen you with that in years," John surprised her by saying. Somehow during those years between the activation of her nanites and their theft of Atlantis she hadn’t thought he was noticing.

"That is what I want to talk to you about," she told him. "We – we Atlanteans, that is – are no longer earthlings. In fact, the civilians do not even wear badges like these. But what are we?"

John actually thought about it before answering (it wasn't that he was stupid, he was just a bit hot-headed and she knew that whenever he took some time to answer he was really considering his answer): "I guess we are what you said: Atlanteans."

"But could you ever just be an Atlantean, or will you always remain an American Atlantean?" she asked earnestly. Her smile had slipped and she knew she was frowning.

Once more John thought about his answer. Few conversations were as intense that he had to think twice in a minute. "I suppose we are in part still too reliant on the past," he carefully answered. Then he reached out and cupped her face in one hand. "I think all of us that came with Atlantis had made the decision to forfeit their ties to earth. These flags are just a habit." He smiled that special smile of his and pulled her into his arms. "I know I haven't thought of myself as an American in a long time." He kissed the top of her head. "We can continue this conversation later, but we are getting ready to leave for M4L-997."

She pulled back once more. "Go. I'll see you tonight," she smiled, hear fears relieved. He turned to go, but before entering the locker room he turned to her once more.

"I love you," told her.

"I love you too," she replied and then he was gone. She slapped the flag against her other hand and with a little grin and a hop she turned around and headed for her office. She had work to do.


	6. Chapter 6

Some of the SGA teams would march into the gate room together; proving their unity and ability to function together. Some did it only because they thought it looked good. From the start SGA-1, on the other hand, had had the habit of strolling in whenever they felt like it. Not that anyone would ever question their loyalty and unity: rather because they were perhaps the closest knit group of them all they felt no need to prove anything. Maybe. The truth is rather that it had never occurred to them to do it any other way – even if they had gone to the locker room for their final preparations together.

On this day the first two to stroll in together were Teyla and Ronon. Usually this would mean they were talking together – sometimes the fact that they were both from races born in the Pegasus galaxy made them see Atlantis slightly different from the rest of them. Both had grown up with stories of the ancestors and had to some fashion regarded them as near gods. But now they lived in the city. And just sometimes they needed each other to remember who they were. Only today there was little conversation between them.

The reason for this was that though Teyla had tried to talk to him a number of times, his mind was wandering. For nearly two years now Ronon had been finding himself slowly being drawn to Teyla. Unfortunately things weren't that simple and this caused Ronon to be in a bad mood – hence the absence of talk.

It wasn't as if Ronon was not aware of this state of affairs – it was just that he had no idea what to do about it. Ronon knew that in many ways he came over as rough and unsophisticated. Teyla, on the other hand, as much as she was a warrior one could never deny the fact that she was a lady. She had also given her heart to Kenaan. In fact, her first child was his.

And this was the heart of the problem: though Ronon had never been awkward around women, he was not the kind to fall in love easily. But he had fallen for Teyla and she was the one woman he could never have.

Perhaps it was because he was preoccupied that he made the offer. While they were strolling towards the gate room in near silence, Teyla, in another attempt at conversation, suddenly wondered out loud if she could still get Anna to babysit Torren the next evening. Anna was one of the civilians that had joined Atlantis when they had left earth, and she had become the unofficial babysitter in the city. Unfortunately she had other responsibilities as well and it was not always easy to get her in time to look after the kid.

Inwardly Ronon sighed. Usually Kenaan looked after Torren. If Teyla needed Anna's help, it meant she and Kenaan were planning on doing something together.

"What's wrong?" Teyla asked as he sighed. He hadn't been aware he had done that out loud.

"I was just thinking: I can always watch Torren for the night," he hastily replied. Teyla stopped and gave him a peculiar look. He shrugged. "I like kids," he truthfully admitted.

"I see," Teyla slowly answered. And that was it for conversation, for she continued on in thoughtful silence, making Ronon wonder anew what he was to do about his feelings for her.

As the two of them entered the gate room, Elisabeth called to Teyla from the balcony beside her office. "Teyla, could I have a word with you?"

"Certainly," Teyla called even as she turned to run up the wide flight of stairs. With hooded eyes Ronon watched her go; enjoying the view. If Teyla knew she would probably kick his ass for it, but the big man just couldn't help himself.

Even as Ronon watched Teyla go, he heard Rodney and John enter the gate room. The two of them were discussing something: which meant Rodney was talking in his superior manner and John was being sarcastic back at him. They actually reminded Ronon of two brothers he had known back on Sateda – they had been close, but they never could stop bickering.

When the two men were safely within the area of the gate room, Chuck – who now zealously guarded his position as gate-tech – activated the stargate. With SGA-1 it was never a good idea to ask them if they were ready. Rodney would just be ironic at you and Chuck had long since learned to avoid that. So with the familiar sound that reminded Ronon of a thunderstorm, the wormhole was engaged. Soft blue light filled the gate room from the event horison.

"What would be the use?" Rodney was saying. Ronon really didn't want to know what the conversation was about, but somehow the rest of them always got dragged into it when John and Rodney were at it.

"I'm just saying, there's something odd going on here," John answered. "Don't you find it peculiar that only the women are acting strange?"

Rodney sighed and Ronon suddenly perked up. He, too, had noticed that many of the women were acting peculiar. Teyla was one of the few that seemed almost normal. As he thought of her, he looked up to where she was talking to their expedition leader – well, Ronon supposed Elizabeth was no longer that, was she? Once this group of people had been an expedition. But now it was a separate society and Elizabeth was more like the mayor than anything else. Elizabeth said something to Teyla and the Athosian woman nodded. Then she smiled and Ronon wished it was him she was talking to. Then she turned and started down the stairs.

"I'm telling you, there is no way something like that could have slipped past our scans," Rodney told John. Just as John started to answer the scientist, the four of them (Teyla had joined them) heard a very familiar sound. It was the sound of canine paws running.

"Oh, no!" Rodney said even as the big dog came bounding around the corner. With a look of pure elation Pavlov ran up to Rodney. But instead of stopping, the dog simply brushed past his master – making Rodney fall over – and bounded towards the exciting new discovery: the blue event horison. Before Rodney had finished falling the dog was through the stargate.

"She's going to kill me!" Rodney muttered as Ronon leaned over to help him up. Without thanking the Satedan, Rodney ran after the dog. With a sigh John followed his friend and moments later – after rolling her eyes at them – Teyla followed. With a curse Ronon followed at his own time. But then again, Rodney was right: Sitnalta wasn't going to be very happy with any one of them if the big dog got lost. And even though the young woman was completely in love with Rodney, the rest of them all felt kind of protective about her. It was almost as if should they be able to keep her safe, they can imagine everything working for them here in the Pegasus galaxy.

The event horison closed around Ronon and he embarked upon a journey that would take him light years away but would last only seconds. No matter how many times he did it, it was still a rush.

Moments later Ronon's vision cleared and he strolled idly out onto the slight platform almost all the stargates were mounted on. He took a few steps forward and turned to scan the area. To one side Rodney was talking again as he held out the life signs detector from the puddle jumper. Teyla and John were looking around as well, but probably not looking for the dog. First they would need to make sure the area is secure.

Ronon was only at the foot of the platform, but he slowly turned to look behind him – he had though he had heard something. For a moment he stood, staring. Then he decided this was probably the one time he was going to be glad they had Rodney on the team.

"Hey, guys," he called.

"Not now," Rodney yelled over his shoulder. "I think I'm detecting the dog."

And then there were times Ronon wondered how SGA-1 ever survived anything. "Guys, I really think you want to see this," Ronon called to them.

"What is it?" Rodney asked irritated, but Ronon could hear he had turned around.

For a moment they stood staring. Then finally John piped up: "Is it just me, of have we lost the stargate?" he asked.

"The stargate is gone!" Rodney blurted out and Ronon could hear the astonishment in his voice. He turned to look at his friends. John was scowling and Rodney's mouth hung open. Only Teyla seemed composed and Ronon suddenly felt proud that they were friends.

From the corner of his mouth John told Rodney: "I just said that."

Rodney waved a hand at where the stargate had been only moments ago. "Yeah, but some things are worth repeating! How are we going to get home?"

Ronon grinned as years of experience took over. "Well, first things first," he decided. "Let's go find that dog of yours," he told Rodney even as he set off in a direction away from the gate.

"But the stargate..." Rodney began. Teyla interrupted.

"Ronon is correct. First let's find Pavlov and then we worry about getting home."

"Besides," John added even as he set out after Ronon. "The gate didn't just disappear on its own. Somebody did that and we need to go find that somebody."

"We are so screwed," Rodney grumbled as he set off after the rest of them. "Just great."


	7. Chapter 7

Elizabeth frowned at the tablet she held in her hands. Then she looked up at Jennifer Keller who had handed her the tablet – and the information on it – to her only a minute ago.

"Are you sure?" Elizabeth asked the nervous young woman.

Jennifer nodded. "Positive – um, no pun intended," the young doctor confirmed. "And so far the figures are remaining constant at forty percent of all women tested, but we're expecting that figure to rise later on."

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes and leaned forward on the desk, linking her fingers in front of her. "Explain," she demanded softly.

Jennifer sank into the chair in front of Elizabeth's desk, looking tired. "About half of those we have tested have been the civilians," she began; gesturing slightly. "But the most positives have been among the military or scientist groups, but many of those are still on duty or off-world. In a few hours we will be done with the civilians and then we will only be testing those scientists and military teams."

Elizabeth thought about it for a moment. "Well, it does seem as if the original Atlanteans are more – paired off than the civilians," she commented.

"Yes, which is strange," Jennifer confirmed. "Even with the rules we have started pairing off about two years ago..." She took a deep breath. "Something happened back then and something is happening now."

Elizabeth brought her hands to her body, wondering and hoping Jennifer had not seen the almost defensive gesture. "You think they are related?"

In some ways Jennifer was still unsure of her own worth, so her answer was softly spoken. Yet Elizabeth noticed that the younger woman was sure of her facts; she just lacked assertiveness at times. "Yes. And because the civilians weren't exposed to whatever happened back then, I suppose they are not as susceptible now. They aren't as 'paired off' as we are."

Elizabeth looked at the young doctor and another thought occurred to her. "Even so, aren't we all protected?" she asked.

"Yes," Jennifer confirmed. "All of the marines and scientists are on the same thing – and believe me: it is the best there is. After some of the things especially done by SG-1, the IOA – although back then it was the Pentagon – decided that there are some situations they don't want cropping up all over the galaxy," she explained and Elizabeth smiled slightly. She really loved the way the woman had phrased that sentence.

"I suspect not many of the civilians use the IOA-recommended protection?" Elizabeth speculated.

"Those that did are the majority of positives," the other woman confirmed.

Elizabeth looked down at the tablet. "I see you were tested positive as well," she said as she looked slyly at the other woman. Jennifer blushed.

"Both Anne and I had been in the first group to be tested after Colonel Sheppard had asked us to this morning," she nervously replied. "And I'm going to have to ask you to come down later as well."

Elizabeth lifted an eyebrow and smiled slightly. "I'll be there as soon as I get the time."

#####

"Have you learned yet what is wrong with so many of the women on Atlantis?" Teyla seemingly casually asked John as they trailed behind Ronon. The big man was in front, tracking the dog.

"Not yet," John drawled, "but the doctors are looking into it," he assured her.

"Yes, have you ever noticed how we seem to be collecting doctors like we have been collecting Pegasins?" Rodney suddenly piped up. "I mean, not even the SGC has as many as we do."

Ronon stood up and frowned at Rodney, although he was smiling. Actually the big Satedan had great respect – and affection – for the whiney scientist. It was just so much fun to tease him he just couldn't help himself at times. "Pegasins?" he asked.

"You know," Rodney replied, slightly irritated. "People like you and Teyla and all those kids." He looked down at his life signs detector and completely missed the look passing between Teyla and Ronon. Teyla was grinning slightly and Ronon's grin was nearly splitting his head in two.

"I'm so...happy you regard us thus," Teyla told the distracted scientist. Rodney looked up at them, confused.

"What?" he asked and Ronon could see the other man had no idea that the way he had just delivered the comment might have been considered insulting. Then his brain seemed to catch up with his mouth. "I was only saying..."

"Children, don't we have a dog to find?" John interrupted the three of them.

"Only because somebody hasn't taught the dog manners yet," Ronon mumbled; upsetting Rodney and completely undermining John's effort at peace.

"Hey, you saw that damn mutt!" Rodney cried. "I've been trying to teach him manners for months now!"

"The dog will learn to obey you when it learns to respect you," Teyla calmly said, but Ronon had a feeling she was still messing with Rodney.

"Running after it and yelling at it isn't the way, though," the big man grinned. Teyla smiled and John winced. John looked at the lovely Athosian.

"Maybe that wasn't the best advice right now," he told her as he scowled. She looked solemn.

"I am afraid you might be correct, Colonel," she replied, but only Ronon saw the twinkle in her eye.

Though they had been teasing, they had not stopped and they had covered quite a bit of ground as they joked. So far they had been walking through rather dense forest, but now the leafy green suddenly opened into a clearing. Even before they had time to look around, they heard the distinct sound of Pavlov barking.

And there he sat: calmly in the middle of the clearing on a covering of soft, green moss. For a moment the four of them stood unmoving at the sight of the dog just sitting there. Somehow they had thought this was going to be much tougher than just finding him.

"Pavlov!" Rodney finally sighed and walked forward. The scientist did not seem as angry as Ronon had thought he would be, and he suddenly realised the other man really liked the useless, gangly mutt.

The dog answered its owner with a happy bark, but even as Rodney gave another few steps the dog disappeared. Usually that phrase was just another way of saying the dog leapt up and ran away, but in this case it really disappeared. The one moment Pavlov sat happily in the sunlight on his patch of moss, the next he seemed to waver like a mirage and vanish into thin air. He literally disappeared.

"What...where did he go?" Rodney asked; perplexed. "He was just here." He turned to his friends in disbelief. "You saw him, didn't you? He was just there, sitting on that piece of moss," he said; his mouth almost slack with worry.

"I suppose that can't be good, can it?" John said, almost as perplexed as Rodney.

"Hell, no it isn't!" the other man burst out. "We've trekked all this way just to have him disappear like the Stargate. I mean: how can we lose both the dog and the Stargate?" he demanded.

"We find the dog, we find the Stargate," Ronon succinctly said. Even at his best he was a man of few words.

Teyla looked at the perplexed man and for a brief moment Ronon felt a stab of jealousy. He  _knew_  Teyla would never look at Rodney with more than fun or even respect in her brown eyes, but jealousy wasn't something easily argued with. She even touched Rodney's arm in encouragement. "I believe Ronon is correct," she told him and Ronon felt relief wash over him. Oh, she was just being Teyla-the-leader.

"Let's just keep moving, okay," John said. He looked at Ronon. "Is there a trail you can follow?"

Ronon nodded: he had already checked – even as he had briefly been battling with his jealousy. Now he crouched on the spot where the dog had disappeared and pointed.

"Even an invisible dog seems to leave a trail," he told them. He lifted his arm and pointed the way they had been going. "The trail leads in that direction," he added.

"Well, then, let's go find that dog. And hopefully the Stargate while we're at it," John added even as they set off in a line behind Ronon. John might be the commander of their little group, but it was often Ronon that led.


	8. Chapter 8

The puddle jumper descended towards the planet and softly touched down. The familiar sounds of the jumper shutting down and the door opening calmed her racing heart. After years of experience with negotiating, she knew outwardly she showed no sign of her anxiety, but in the end every negotiation is stressful in its own right. So much depended on every word, every intonation and every little gesture, and this negotiation would be an important step forward in the world of Atlantis.

The pilot, Lieutenant Miles, smiled at her as he turned to escort her down the ramp. He was one of the youngest members of the marines on Atlantis, and she suspected him – like a number of the younger members – of having a small measure of hero-worship for her. She had noticed this phenomena a few months back, just after they had returned to Lantea. It seemed they had a need for someone to fill a gap in their lives and she had been popped in there. Now they seemed to view her as a surrogate mother that ruled the city.

She smiled at the young man, but to herself she wondered if she really felt old enough to be the mother of the city. Well, she thought as they descended down the ramp, then she had come to the wrong place if she wanted to feel young.

The two of them were met by an envoy of kids waiting just outside the jumper. For a moment they all stood staring at each other, but then a young man – he was definitely a young man by now, no longer a kid – stepped forward and smiled at her.

"Doctor Weir," he happily greeted her. Though she had met him and his people only a couple of months before – when they had first extended the invitation to Lantea – she had instantly liked this particular young man.

"Keras," she smiled at him, "you seem well."

His smile widened and she fell into step beside him; the Lieutenant silently following. "We cannot express our thanks enough for your generosity in taking us in," he told her.

She cocked her head slightly. "You are settling in well?" He looked away slightly and she wondered why he seemed embarrassed. "Is there something you need?" she tried. Though young, these kids were remarkably independent and proud.

"You must think us very young," he finally admitted at what was troubling him. She noticed that the rest of the group had fallen slightly behind, offering the two of them some privacy.

She dropped her head slightly as she looked at him. "You mean because of Atlantis?"

He met her eyes. "We live in trees. Even the Athosians are more advanced than we are," he told her.

She lifted and eyebrow. "There are many who call  _us_  young," she admitted to him. "I suppose there are always someone out there that's older than we are. Just remember that old doesn't mean wise," she assured him. He smiled as he accepted this. By now they had reached the community-tree and the kids scurried up the rope ladder. Only the Lieutenant waited for her and she sighed. What she wouldn't give at times to still be as young as these kids! And if she was correct about what the doctors will find later, she suspected John was going to be furious when he found out she had climbed a tree. That was probably why she had insisted on coming here before going to the infirmary: plausible deniability. She might be leader of Atlantis, but from the start John respected her only  _because_  he respected her: at any time he can become rather bossy when he felt the need to.

She reached the top and the Lieutenant scurried up after her. She wanted to roll her eyes, but once more Keras spoke.

"You wanted to see us?" he asked, indicating the ring of elders – all even younger than him – and she felt a familiar calm settle over her. Negotiations had begun and she was in her element.

#####

On the planet the four members of SGA-1 had been walking for over an hour in silence; following the trail left by Pavlov. In the lead was Ronon with Teyla and John following close behind. Rodney, on the other hand, was some ways behind them – often nearly tripping over the odd obstacle in the path they were following – his attention elsewhere as he was working through the numerous files on his tablet; looking for an answer to their missing-Stargate dilemma. He had a suspicion about what could have happened: the only problem was that his notion was a Milkyway Galaxy notion. Well, not that they haven't had their fair share of Milkyway problems here in the Pegasus Galaxy; it was just that too often (okay, usually) the answers were not as easy as he wanted them to be.

Even though his attention wasn't on his surroundings, even Rodney noticed that the forest was getting denser. By now the light from his tablet was stronger than that from the sun and Rodney had time for a moment's fear. But then he opened a file and his attention was diverted away from any impending doom. Besides, if he was correct about why they had lost the Stargate, they were in no danger – except the danger of being gently reminded they are not much more than children.

"Wait," Ronon suddenly said and the whole group instantly became alert. Even Rodney took some time to look up and around.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Look," Ronon said and pointed ahead. It seemed that the path they were on led to the entrance of a cave. And there, exactly there where the floor of the forest turned into the floor of the cave, sat Pavlov. As they had progressed they had heard him a couple of times somewhere ahead of them, but after Rodney had called to the dog a number of times and Ronon had then told him to keep quiet in  _that_  voice, they had ignored the bark.

Now the four of them just stood there, staring at the dog.

"You think he'll disappear again?" John finally asked.

"How should I know?" Rodney retorted.

"Well, I wasn't asking you," John snapped back. Rodney lowered his tablet along with his one shoulder and stared at his friend.

"I'm sorry if am annoying you with my answers, but it seems that I am the only one trying to figure out why the dog keeps on disappearing. If I can get to the bottom of that I might even be able to get the Stargate back." Though Rodney had been in full-sarcasm, he had never completely taken his eyes off the dog. He knew that he had better return with the dog or else not at all. Well, Sitnalta probably loved him more than the dog, but he wasn't in the mood to hear her rant about him losing Pavlov. Or worse: what if Sitnalta looked at him with those big blue eyes filled with tears and her lower lip caught between her teeth in an effort to keep the tears in. Only once before had he seen that face and he had vowed to never make her cry again. He was man enough to admit he wasn't man enough to survive that look on her face a second time.

"That's what I said," Ronon answered Rodney, but the scientist wasn't listening. Pavlov was no longer sitting in the entrance to the cave, but had gotten up.

"Wait," Teyla piped up. "I think he wants us to follow him," she said even as the dog barked at them. Then he turned around and ran into the cave.

"You think it's safe?" John asked, looking up at the roof.

"The dog wouldn't have gone in if it wasn't" Ronon rumbled, but Rodney saw he had his gun ready.

"I wouldn't trust that dog," Rodney felt the need to point out. "He's not the brightest dog ever." His friends stared at him and in his mind he worked out exactly what that statement meant. Then he saw Sitnalta's teary eyes. "Oh, right, we have to get him back," he sighed as his while body went limp.

"It's your dog," John said. "Do we follow or not?" he added as he indicated the way Pavlov had run.

"If indeed the answer to finding the gate is in there, we have no choice but to follow," Teyla tried to soothe everyone – again.

"Well, I don't think the roof will fall on our heads," Rodney ventured.

"Let's go, then," Ronon rumbled and proceeded into the cave. Teyla and John followed, and after sighing once, so did Rodney.

The cave was not much more than a natural tunnel into the mountain range. A million small crystals in the walls and roof glowed with a natural radiance, so the path was lighted. In fact, the lights were rather pretty as they shone with a radiant variation of hues.

Then at last the tunnel opened into an immense cave; lit by the same lights. A small waterfall tumbled into a pool to the left of them and the soft light of the crystals danced on the surface. The prettiness of the tunnel was suddenly transformed into stunning beauty.

"Oh, wow. I wonder how the crystals maintain their radiance," Rodney wondered, looking up.

"Perhaps you'd like to ask these nice people," John said to the side. Only then did Rodney look down to see the cave filled with at least two dozen people. They were kind of elfish-looking with pale skins, clothes in shades of pink, blue or purple and pieces of plant stuck into their twiggy hair. They were all looking at the new arrivals.

Suddenly Pavlov bounded up to Rodney from somewhere between the small people and placed his paws on his master's shoulders. A huge pink tongue completed the greeting. Rodney pushed him away.

"Enough of that, you mutt," he growled, but even the dog seemed to know his heart wasn't in it. One of the older-looking aliens stepped forward.

"Welcome," he said.

"Okay, what's going on here? Who are you people?" John demanded. He looked annoyed more than anything. But Rodney knew the truth.

"You're the Nox, aren't you?" he accused.


	9. Chapter 9

The elderly-looking man, dressed in soft shades of blue, inclined his head slightly. "We are the Noxin," he corrected Rodney.

"So, what? You're the Nox with an extra  _i-n_  at the back?" Rodney demanded. "Does that make you more Nox or less Nox?"

The man smiled slightly and seemed inclined to answer when Ronon stepped forward and growled menacingly: "Who are the Nox?" something seemed to be bothering him.

"These are the Nox. They are a group of small humanoids from the Milkyway galaxy who can do incredible stuff with their minds," Rodney negligently answered the big Satedan while typing away at his keyboard. His answer did not seem to placate Ronon much, though.

"I figured as much," he growled and seemed even more on edge. It took John a moment to realise the source of his antagonism. "But can we trust them?" Ronon added.

John winced slightly as he realised why Ronon seemed so suspicious. The big man really actually had cause to be on edge. As far as John could figure, Ronon had run into four other races from the Milkyway galaxy: humans (whom he had allied himself with), the Goa'uld (whom he despised as much as humans did), those evil Asgard (didn't like them either) and the Replicators (how can one not dislike them? And even though the Ancients had created these Pegasus galaxy Replicators, the original Replicators had been created in the Milkyway galaxy and John decided they counted as from there). So it was little wonder his friend felt uneasy at the thought of meeting another race from the Milkyway. John grinned.

"Whoa there, big fellow. The Nox are arch-pacifists who will none the less make you feel like you are a kid, but basically you can trust them," John assured his big friend. "I've never met them, but from what I've read about SG-1's dealings with them, I like them.

"I am curious as well," Teyla smiled in that deceptively mild manner of hers. "Why do you call yourself the Noxin?"

The alien smiled slightly and John had the nagging suspicion he liked the soft-spoken woman. In fact, the Nox might even decide she is not as young as they claim the rest of humanity is.

"We are the descendants of the Nox," the alien man answered Teyla. After a moment it dawned on them that that statement seemed to be the extent of the explanation the alien was about to give.

"That's all good and well," Rodney (of course) finally tried again. "But are you different from the Nox from the Milkyway galaxy?"

The small alien smiled. "We are as much the Nox as your descendants would be earthlings."

"Yeah, but they would still be human," Rodney sarcastically replied.

"But not earthlings," the Nox replied. "Every experience changes one. So does living here, so far away from those you are descended from. Tell me, if you should return to earth, will they welcome you back?" he finally asked.

For a stunned moment everyone – but especially John and Rodney – was stunned into silence. That question was too close to home – so to speak.

"You seem to know a lot about us," John finally told the old man. He said it very carefully, seeing as this was the Nox they were talking to.

The Nox smiled. "I see a bit more than most," he cryptically replied.

"Great," Rodney wryly remarked. "That statement could mean anything from you have good eyesight to you have the ability to read minds!"

Ronon tensed once more. "You can read minds?" he demanded of the wrinkled old man.

He smiled. "And whose mind would I have read?" he asked. With that the matter seemed to be settled for him, though. "You are the Satedan called Ronon Dex?" he asked. His question did not soothe Ronon in the least and John wondered if he would be able to keep the runner from trying to hurt the Nox – Noxin, he amended.

"Why do you want to know?" Ronon demanded. Four years on Atlantis had mellowed him somewhat, but the small alien seemed to be getting under his skin.

"Do you remember a group of forty soldiers leaving Sateda under the command of Draven Navac?" the small alien asked. John could see the shock running through his friend.

"Ronon?" he quietly asked, hoping to prevent something unfortunate from happening.

"Ten teams, each setting off to a different planet in search of help and somewhere we could have evacuated to," Ronon explained. "The leader of the Forty was Draven Navac." A deep sadness seemed to settle over Ronon. "They left only days before the Wraith attacked. They left too late."

"And these Satedans are still out there?" Teyla asked quietly. She seemed concerned.

"I guess so," he replied. He looked worn out suddenly.

"Draven Navac and the Forty are alive," the Noxin said, slightly lifting his chin.

"Why tell me this?" Ronon asked.

"There is a new enemy waking," the Noxin replied – strangely without being obscure. "To fight them you will need to gather the Forty to Atlantis."

For a moment they stood thinking about that last statement. Then once more Rodney broke the silence. "Wait, the Nox doesn't take sides. So why tell us?"

"No," John drawled. "They don't take sides. That's why they will probably warn this new enemy even as they had warned us." He looked at the gathered Noxin in the cave. "Isn't that right?"

The Noxin smiled and slightly shook his head. "The enemy is already becoming aware. To maintain balance you needed to be warned. That was why we sent the invitation."

"Invitation?" Rodney exploded. "We are the ones who randomly dialled this planet. What invitation did you send?" Just then Pavlov barked once from where he had been sitting rather demurely beside Rodney. Rodney looked down at his pet. "Oh," he said, looking slightly hurt. "That invitation," he amended his outburst. Obviously, John thought, the Noxin had sent for them and had used Pavlov to guide them to the cave.

"You wouldn't be so nice as to tell us exactly who this enemy is, now would you," John pushed his luck with the elfin people. When the man simply stood looking back at him, he backed down. "Yeah, I guessed as much."

John had finally found the time to read the reports from the SG teams a few years back and though the Nox had seemed unthreatening enough, they had also clearly been unwilling to involve themselves in the politics of any other culture. The Noxin – even if they were only descendants of the Nox – seemed to have the same preference.

A slightly younger female stepped forward and inclined her head towards the four members of SGA-1. "It is customary for the Noxin to give expectant fathers a gift," she cryptically remark. Even as she spoke, two young children stepped forward, each carrying something that looked very much like an egg. They handed one egg to John and one to Rodney. The scientist looked at the egg for a moment.

"It's a fenri egg, isn't it?" he suddenly asked. Then he paled. "Wait, what do you mean by 'expectant fathers?'" he demanded from the pretty female. But even before he had spoken the Noxin faded from the chamber. SGA-1 and Pavlov stood alone in the immense cavern.

"What did she mean when she said 'expectant fathers?'" Rodney demanded from his team. Ronon seemed amused and it was Teyla that finally broke the spell as she suggested they go home. Slowly they turned around and retraced their steps.

"I can't be a father," Rodney exclaimed even as they left the cave. Pavlov barked once more. "Oh, don't you start on me as well," he snapped at the dog. Then he looked down at his egg once more. "I mean, I would have known if Sitnalta was..." He trailed off and with the egg still firmly clutched in both hands made a vague gesture that might have suggested the presence of a swollen belly.

"Pregnant?" Ronon supplied the word Rodney somehow seemed unable to pronounce.

"Thank you," the scientist snapped. "No, really," he continued. "Sitnalta have been...taking precautions," he lamely ended.

"Am I not correct when I surmise these precautions are not always effective?" Teyla needled him as well. He scowled at her.

"Fine, but even if Sitnalta was pregnant, I wouldn't be showing it, would I?" he demanded. "So how would the Noxin know?"

"Maybe you are the one that's pregnant," Ronon smiled.

"Oh, really, how very mature of you," Rodney snapped back. Then, after a few moment's silence he paled once more. "You don't think this galaxy had messed with my DNA and now I'm pregnant, do you?" he asked and Ronon and Teyla grinned at each other.

As the three of them joked about, John walked along in pensive silence. After that last remark from Rodney he even took a moment to consider the fact that Rodney knew the other two liked messing with him and was playing along just for the fun of it. But that was not what he was really thinking about. Nor was his mind on the fact that they seemed to have forgotten that the stargate had been missing only a few hours ago.

No, his thoughts were on the other side of the galaxy, back on Atlantis. He looked down at the egg he was still holding in one hand. He wondered how correct the Noxin were.


	10. Chapter 10

The strange but extremely familiar feeling of the journey through the wormhole disappeared and without as much as a lurch John and the rest of SGA-1, with Pavlov, stepped through the gate. Even now it sometimes surprised John that the same step he finished in the gate room he had started giving light years away.

But this time his mind was not on the peculiarities of gate travel.  Instead one important question burned within him. "Where's Elizabeth?" he demanded. With a yap Pavlov ran past them and disappeared down a corridor.

"Doctor Weir is in the infirmary," Chuck informed the pilot. The technician grinned. "So is Sitnalta," he added with a sly look.

"The infirmary? What happened?" Rodney demanded, looking up. The only person who could completely capture the scientist's attention was his lover.

"I'll go get the dog," Ronon offered.

"And I will join him," Teyla added as she and Ronon headed off in the direction the dog had gone. John and Rodney had other affairs to attend to.

Though Rodney kept on trying to hurry them along, John felt oddly reluctant to reach the infirmary. If Elizabeth had been hurt, Chuck would have informed them and therefore there could be only one other reason why both she and her friend were in the infirmary: they were being tested as he, John, had asked. Obviously he had been correct when he had wondered if there was some kind of disease going around that only affected the women. The only thing was that it didn't seem to be a disease at all.

Before they entered the infirmary, they heard voices drifting into the corridor from inside. The doors stood open – as always – and the two men stepped into the brightly lit room. Inside it was busier than John had seen the infirmary in a long time. Doctors, nurses and patients – mostly women – were seated on beds or standing around chatting. The only male patient seemed to be Lorne. From what John could discern the young marine had hurt his head and Carson was dabbing at the small wound, slightly scolding his patient.

"Rodney!" a familiar voice called seconds before Sitnalta flung herself into her lover's arms. Instinctively Rodney opened his arms to accept her; carefully holding on to the large pink egg he had been given by the Noxin. For a moment the two of them embraced before Rodney leaned down and kissed her.

After an intimate moment he leaned back and frowned at her. "What are you doing in the infirmary?" he asked of her.

"If you remember correctly," Carson said as he put a small bandage on Lorne, "Colonel Sheppard asked that we test for a disease that seemed to be infecting especially the women." The doctor was grinning as he turned around. Lorne made a break for the door before the doctor could reconsider and reach for a needle.

"Yes, I know," Rodney loftily replied.

"Well," Carson smiled. "John was correct. Sitnalta's results came through only minutes ago."

Rodney looked worried and John couldn't believe the man had not figured it out by now.

"In a manner of speaking." He reached out and shook Rodney's hand. "Congratulations, you're going to be a father," he informed Rodney.

As Carson was informing Rodney of impending parenthood, John's eyes finally settled on the person he had been looking for. Some way to the right Elizabeth sat on a bed with Jennifer hovering nearby. With the racket Rodney was creating it must have been nearly impossible to ignore his and John's entrance, and Elizabeth was already looking in his direction. She seemed anxious and the sight of her uncertainty nearly broke his heart.

But before he could go to her, a loud bump right next to him startled him. Looking down he saw Rodney passed out on the floor. Carson's hand was still extended in mid-air. Fortunately it seemed Sitnalta's reflexes were very quick. Well, either that or she might have suspected that Rodney would pass out, but either way, she had caught the pink egg and saved it from dropping with Rodney to the floor.

"Good catch," Carson complemented her as he dropped his hand. "Now be a dear and fetch Duncan so we can get your man to a bed. I will need to see how hard he had bumped his head," he calmly added. John looked at Carson.

"I guess he didn't take the news too well?" he asked.

"I guess not," the Beckett smiled. Just then the other Beckett arrived and they started on getting Rodney to the nearest bed. Sitnalta hovered nearby, looking slightly worried and sad.

"Hey," he said as he put a hand on her upper arm. She looked at him with her big blue eyes. "He tends to do that. Believe me, he will be happy about the news as soon as the Becketts have revived him." She smiled gratefully at him. Then she held out the pink egg.

"What is this?" she wanted to know.

"I think it's a fenrin," he said, adding the  _–in_  sound the Noxin had added to their name. If the Noxin were the descendants of the Nox, then it seemed logical that these eggs were those of the fenrin, descendants of the fenri. He grinned at her a moment. "It's a gift from the Noxin." She smiled and turned to go to her lover's side. He was sure she would get the whole story from him soon enough.

His smile fading, John turned and walked over to where Elizabeth was still sitting on the bed. He reached her side and tried out a slightly wavering smile. Her smile was as tentative as his, but her huge eyes spoke louder than words ever could.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," she answered. Then, with what must have been an immense effort she nodded in Rodney's direction. "Rodney is in for another surprise," she smiled. "Sitnalta is expecting twins."

His answering smile came a bit easier. "I'm sure he'll adjust," he told her.

With both arms she pushed back on the bed and pushed herself off. Standing next to him now she lifted an eyebrow. "I'm sure he will," she replied, but there was still a question in her eyes. For just the briefest moment he waited too long to reply to that unspoken answer and she turned away from him and with that little hop of hers set off towards the newly-awoken Rodney who was already complaining about his bumped head. John followed.

"Can't you give me something stronger for the pain?' the scientist complained.

"Rodney..." Sitnalta interjected and the man waved his hands, making those circular motions John knew meant he was agitated.

"Yes, yes, I know. I'm still thinking, okay?" Rodney told her.

Before the two of them could continue their conversation, Jennifer appeared at Elizabeth's side; smiling. "Congratulations," she told Elizabeth while handing her the smallish tablet used to store information but not do the complex calculations the scientists usually needed their computers to do. "Your test is positive as well."

Elizabeth took the tablet and looked at something there, but Rodney looked around in confusion. John suspected he was in denial.

"What? Positive for what?" he demanded. Jennifer smiled at him.

"Elizabeth is pregnant," she simply said before retrieving the tablet from Elizabeth, turning and heading towards another woman to the back of the infirmary.

John turned his head to find Elizabeth looking at him; her uncertainty back. Yet behind the shadow in her eyes he saw that steely determination of hers. Obviously she had already decided how she felt about being pregnant and now only awaited his reaction.

For a moment John was truly speechless. So many thoughts passed through his mind: memories of hearing Nancy say she didn't want to have kids, his own childhood and finally the small Noxin woman handing him the pink egg he was still holding on to. On that journey back from the spectacular cave he had already made his decision and now, suddenly, joy welled up inside him.

Disregarding anyone else seeing, he grabbed Elizabeth in his arms. With a huge grin splitting his face he swept her off her feet and spun around with her in his arms. By the time he put her down in the spot where she had started, she was smiling as well.

"I'm going to be a dad!" he announced loudly to the world in general. He had so many questions concerning her pregnancy, including how safe it will be with the nanites in her system, but right now all of them could wait.

He turned and shook Carson's hand enthusiastically. "I'm going to be a dad," he told the doctor.

Retrieving his hand, Carson grinned. "I noticed," he told the elated John. John turned to Rodney, but before he could open his mouth Rodney shook his hand.

"Yes, we get it," Rodney grumbled. "Congratulations," he added gracelessly.

"And you too," John told his friend. Then he turned and hugged Sitnalta. "And you," he told the delicate blonde. Before anyone could utter another word, he grabbed Elizabeth again in a fierce hug; only letting up when he heard her indrawn breath. He put his lips to her ear. "I love you," he told her. Then he stepped back and met her eyes. She was smiling, but she had an eyebrow raised.

"It seems I'm expecting twins as well," she succinctly informed him. While looking at her he addressed Carson.

"That seems to be going around?" he asked.

"Aye," the other man replied. "At the moment our figures are set at sixty-two percent of women pregnant on Atlantis. Elizabeth was one of the last tested," he explained. "And of those expecting just over sixty percent are expecting twins."

"What's with the egg?" Elizabeth finally asked. John had forgotten about it. Now he handed it to her.

"The descendants of the Nox, the Noxin, told us it is appropriate that every expectant father should receive a gift."

She took the egg from him and turned it around in her hands. "Then I think we're about a hundred or so eggs short," she smiled as she looked at him through her lashes.

Just then Pavlov came running into the infirmary; Ronon and Teyla on his heels. John grinned at them. "I'm going to be a dad. So is Rodney," he added.

"Well, congratulations," Ronon grinned and John knew Rodney was in for a lot of teasing. Meanwhile Ronon hit John hard enough on the back in congratulations that he nearly stumbled.

Teyla was more reserved in her felicitations, but not less pleased. "Congratulations," she said as she shook his hand. "To you both," she added as she shook Rodney's hand. Turning to Elizabeth she bowed her head. Elizabeth dropped hers and touched her forehead to the Athosian woman's.

"May your child bring you much joy," Teyla formally told Elizabeth.

"Thank you," the leader of Atlantis replied before Teyla turned to Sitnalta and repeated the blessing. John suddenly realised that in many ways Elizabeth and Sitnalta were moving closer towards the Athosian way of life – at least where some things were concerned – than the earth way of life. He smiled as it dawned on him the Noxin had been correct: his children might be the descendants of earth humans, but they would not be earthlings at all.

But what will they be?


	11. Chapter 11

Elizabeth looked around her at those assembled on the pier. Ideally she would have liked this to have been held in the gate room, but the almost thousand people that have gathered here would never have fit. In fact, there were only a few places in the entire Atlantis that would have fit this number of people, but most of them have not yet been cleared out after being closed for nearly ten millennia. The pier seemed the most logical alternative.

The entire pier was lit by the immense flood lights, yet the light was not harsh. In fact, shadows still played in corners and in a niche a single nest of those peculiar sea birds that looked like a cross between a penguin and a seagull was occupied by three chicks; adding to the intimacy of the pier.

The people assembled were divided into three distinct groups. There were the 269 humans from earth behind her and she made it 270. At the front of the 341 Athosians stood Teyla and between these two groups the 349 kids from planet M7G-677 were gathered with Keras as leader. Oh, there was also one Satedan mixed in somewhere, she mentally added. In the middle of the groups were three bowls containing bright blue glass beads and one brass-bound chest she had picked up from the Athosians earlier.

Elizabeth took a deep breath and looked over at Teyla, who smiled encouragingly. Then she looked at Keras. He seemed serious, but she knew she had his support. As she turned her head to look from Teyla to Keras, the single string of beads she still wore in her hair tapped lightly against her neck. She smiled slightly as she reflected that already the wearing of the beads were something of a status symbol. She and five other women already wore the string of beads at all times: she, Sitnalta, Anne, Jennifer and Laura wore them, as well as Teyla. These six women had formed a rather closed group over the months and those that doubted it only had to look at the string of beads each wore. In fact, Jeanne's remark on that subject earlier had given her the idea for the bright blue beads she had asked the kids to make.

Now she stepped forward and slowly went to stand in the middle with the beads and the chest. As she spoke she slowly turned to look at each group – each leader and each face she knew and loved.

"I thank you for coming here tonight," Elizabeth began, smiling. She was wearing a white dress that was a cross between Teyla's own blue ceremonial dress and her Ancient dress. "I know most of you wonder why I have called you here. Well, I'm not going to keep you in suspense any longer." Her eye caught Sitnalta's and the younger woman smiled. Elizabeth found her lips curling in an answering smile. Then the young woman turned her head to listen to something Rodney had to say and the string of beads in her blonde hair reflected the light. Elizabeth took that as a good omen.

She lifted her head and looked over the group of humans – which included Sitnalta and Duncan Beckett. Were they, as well as she, Elizabeth, still really human? "Many of us have made a long journey to get where we are today. Many of you have joined the Atlantis mission nearly six years ago, not knowing if you'll ever be able to get back to earth," she continued, slightly narrowing her eyes in emphasis. "Back then you already made the decision that the adventure of Atlantis was worth that sacrifice. Some of you joined the expedition in the following years and some of you only heard of it the day your loved ones told you they were going to leave earth for good. On that day all of you, that joined Atlantis, made a choice from which there is no return. And though I know in my heart none of you regret that choice, it is true that we are now part of a community that have all committed two distinct crimes against earth. First we stole one of the earth's greatest assets," she explained. She did not need a genius like Rodney to tell her they would all be in extreme trouble if earth ever found them and the city they stole. "And then we committed treason." She took a deep breath and slightly lifted her chin. "Like it or not: for the rest of our lives this will be our world."

Now she slowly turned around to include the kids and the Athosians. "In this new world we are not alone. Already we have made a number of enemies, including the Wraith; our common enemy. The sole fact that we are all living here on the same planet and that we are all gathered here tonight is proof enough that we recognize the need to fight this battle together," she sincerely told them, spreading her arms to include everyone on the pier. At the moment the city was empty: everyone was gathered on the pier. She knew it was dangerous, but she had done her best to minimize the risk factor. Rodney, Chuck and a few other people were here with their tablets and all control room functions were routed through their computers. In the shadows on the pier were several puddle jumpers in easy reach and the city had been put into low alert. All this had been done for she had thought it imperative that everyone be included in this monumental decision tonight: together.

Slowly she lowered her arms and turned a full circle to look at everybody. She could almost feel the power of their expectation beating in the air. Some of those gathered here already knew what the speech was leading up to, but some did not. By the time she had finished her speech, she hoped to have convinced most to her side.

When she had finally turned to face those that had come from earth, she continued her speech. "We recognize the need to stand together, and yet we are divided. Look around you," she invited. "Even now many of you wear the flag of your country of origin on your arm." As she spoke she opened her hand so that everyone could see her American flag she had been holding. "We agree that we should fight this enemy together, and yet we are not one people." Now she turned towards the other two groups as well. "We are not one group, we are a group divided. We are American, Canadian, French, Czech," she held out her hands toward those from Pegasus. "We are Athosian, Satedan and though Keras told me you had no name for yourself, you are a group of over three hundred that came here from the planer M7G-677 to join Atlantis."

Once more she took a deep breath, for now came the part that would either gain Atlantis a new community or that would break this tentative group up forever. When she exhaled she lifted her chin even more, but narrowed her eyes. Her eyes fell on Keras and the serious young man smiled at her. She smiled back.

"Tonight we are gathered to make that one final choice: are we one community or just a group of people who happen to live together? Perhaps it would be easy to believe we can continue as we have, yet before we make the final decision, there is one last fact that needs to be considered," she told them and determinedly turned towards the humans from earth. "The news have already spread that a great many of us women are pregnant. But of those of you who are expectant parents, for how few of you is it really easy to know of which nation your child will be? The children expected in this group will have mixed parents. Already the boundaries of the countries we originated in have been broken down beyond repair. So why not take the final step and break that last bond? Tonight all of us have the choice to no longer be of separate nations," she now turned to include the Athosians and the kids again, "but one strong community here on this planet. Tonight everyone that has the courage to make that step will truly be a citizen of Atlantis: will be an Atlantean!" she ended her speech. On that note she turned towards the two groups from the Pegasus galaxy. Part of the speech was to be done by Teyla and Keras and they had carefully written the script for the night in hopes to lead everyone to make the right decision.

On cue, but with such dignity that had Elizabeth not known to expect it she would have thought it was an impulsive action, Teyla and Keras stepped forward. Teyla was dressed in her blue ceremonial gown and Elizabeth had to agree it really resembled her own outfit. Well, that had been the plan, hadn't it?

"I am Teyla Emmagan, leader of the Athosian people," she began. "On the same day that you stepped through the stargate and came here from earth, we Athosians left Athos and stepped through the gate as well. In many ways we have been as much a part of the awakened Atlantis as had those that had come from earth." Slightly the golden woman inclined her head. "We have spoken among ourselves and we of the Athosian people would be honoured to call ourselves Atlanteans. As we are of the last of a people we would like to keep that name alive. Therefore I propose the name of the mainland to be Athosia and we will be the Atlanteans who live on that land."

Without a moment's delay Keras lifted his head and spoke; looking at Elizabeth as Teyla had done, but addressing everyone. "I am Keras. On the eve of the day I was to make the ritual sacrifice that would end my life, these Atlanteans came to our world. They were a group of people who had just recently arrived here in this galaxy and they had problems of their own. Yet they took the time to help us and it is due to them that we no longer have to make that sacrifice," he explained to those gathered on the pier. Elizabeth was just happy he had been willing to skip over the part where Rodney had stolen their ZPM and had intended to leave them unprotected. "We, too, have spoken among ourselves and we, too, would be honoured to be called Atlanteans."

Keras' speech ended and Elizabeth turned towards those from earth. Of those gathered only Sitnalta had known fully what the night would entail: she had not even told John all of it, for she had felt everyone needed to make the choice on their own. Sitnalta she had told for in a very real sense Sitnalta was already Atlantean – the only true Atlantean perhaps.

Except that Elizabeth considered herself to be Atlantean as well. Earth had betrayed her six months ago when they had told her she had to stay on Atlantis because she was not welcome on earth with the heavy amount of nanites inside her. Now she spoke one final time.

"I have made my decision long ago," she declared and tossed her badge in the chest. Then she held her breath and waited.

The first to step forward was John and her heart actually fluttered. She had been anxious about his reaction in the infirmary about finding out she was pregnant, but when he had put his arms around her and declared to everyone he was going to be a dad she had fallen in love all over again.

"Well," he drawled while looking at her, but speaking loud enough for everyone to hear. His eyes smiled at her. "I've made my choice back on earth the day I had agreed to steal the city," he declared. With a single motion he ripped off his flag and tossed it in the chest. As he turned to leave he suddenly stopped and turned slightly to look back at her again. Then he reached inside his top and pulled out his dog-tags. "Though these have some sentimental value, I guess they do not tell the truth anymore," he said with a cocky grin. "Here it says I am Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard of the United Stated of America Air Force." He lifted the tags over his head and held them over the chest where his badge already waited. "That's not really me anymore, is it?" he said and dropped the tags. Then he leaned over and quickly kissed Elizabeth on the lips, breaking the solemn mood and the spell that had seemed to keep everyone silent for the past ten minutes. Elizabeth wanted to throttle him, for she had hoped to introduce the subject of the blue beads with the first person to throw in his badge, but now he had spoiled the moment – and she loved him for it.

Just then Rodney surprised her by stepping forward, clutching his tablet. "Well, I guess I've made my choice as well," he said. "But what's with the beads?" he asked and waved with his finger in the direction of the bowls. Elizabeth had the urge to kiss him for that opening.

She leaned over and picked up one of the bowls. "Until anyone comes up with a different idea, this will be your new passport," she explained. "Everyone that is willing to be Atlantean will wear one of these."

"Oh," he said and took one. "A good enough idea, I guess," he said and turned as if to leave. John put his hand on the scientist's shoulder.

"Rodney, aren't you forgetting something?" he asked. The other man looked at him, perplexed. Then realization hit him.

"Oh, yes, of course," he said and first plucked off his Canadian flag and then his dog-tags, dropping them into the chest unceremoniously. Then he went to back to the crowd to stand next to Sitnalta. John, too, took a bead and went back to his place. By now Teyla and Keras had joined Elizabeth in the centre and each held a bowl of beads.

"Everyone that wishes to be Atlantean can take one of these," Teyla repeated Elizabeth's earlier statement. For another moment the crowd stood frozen. Then, one by one and later in groups, people stepped forward to receive a bead and, in the case of those from earth who still wore their flags and dog-tags, dropped those into the chest. Ten minutes later the ceremony was finished and the bowls empty except for the three beads that would go to Elizabeth, Teyla and Keras each. Elizabeth turned around and, as though sensing her movement, so did the other two.

"Thank you, my friends," she said as she reached into her bowl and took the last bead. She held out her hand towards Teyla and the other woman took the bead from her. In turn Keras hand his bead to Elizabeth and Teyla handed hers to him. In the Athosian tradition they pressed their heads together as they took the bead from the other. This part had not been scripted, but it seemed like a natural step. Perhaps a bit over the top, but necessary.

Then they turned to leave and Elizabeth suddenly thought of something. "Keras," she said, turning back towards the young man. "Seeing as you used to be a rather young population, I suspect you know much about raising kids?" she asked. He nodded and she smiled. "Good, because we're going to need some help in the city in a few months' time. We're expecting about a hundred and sixteen kids to be born within two months of each other."

He grinned at her. "When you said you were expecting a lot of babies, I thought you were talking about a dozen or so," he exclaimed. "How did this happen?"

She sighed. "I really have no idea," she admitted.

#####

The meeting had broken up about an hour ago and everyone had returned to their tasks. As it was late most have gone to bed, but John, Elizabeth, Rodney and Sitnalta, along with Teyla and Ronon (who had also been at the ceremony) had made a final round of the control room and environs. The night shift was already at the controls above the stargate. For once there had been no incoming calls, no attacking Wraith and no internal threat that could have interrupted the meeting. In fact, everything was quiet on Atlantis.

So now the six friends had retired for the night. In John and Elizabeth's room there was an air of excitement. Elizabeth was ecstatic about how well the meeting had gone and John self was happy that everyone had taken a blue bead. Even one person refusing to become an Atlantean would have broken her heart. But then again, John thought to himself with a grin as he stood in front of the bathroom mirror, that had been one of the reasons why he had shot and evicted Kavanagh back on earth. Man, that had felt good.

Still grinning, he returned to the main room to find Elizabeth seated cross-legged on the bed. When she saw him come in, she dropped the strand of beads in her hair and he saw she had added the blue bead to the end of that strand. As she sat there he thought he had never seen someone as beautiful in his life.

"Come here," she said and patted the bed next to her. Happily he strolled over, expecting something nice from her. Instead, the moment he sat down she turned his head around for him and scooted up to sit behind him. Then he felt her hands in his hair and he suddenly understood her intentions.

"Oh, no you don't!" he exclaimed and started to get up. But before he could do so she pushed down on his head – hard enough that he sat back down.

"Sit still," she commanded him. He sighed and did as she had told him to. He figured he could always get rid of the braid she was putting in his hair to attach the bead to. He had thought to wear the bead around his wrist, but it seemed as if she had other plans.

"I can't wear that in my hair," he complained. "On you it looks really sexy. On me it will look..."

"Just as wonderful," she finished for him. He realised she had finished and he turned around to look at her. He picked up the strand hanging next to his ear and looked at it. The bead had been attached to the end of some black cord that she had braided into his hair. Now the damn thing hung to just above his shoulder. Dropping the bead, he looked over at her to tell her he wasn't planning on wearing it. Then he saw her expression. On her face was that same look she had given him in the infirmary before Jennifer had told them she was pregnant. Mentally he sighed as he realised he had lost this fight. When she looked at him that way with those big green eyes filled with hope, he just couldn't do anything to break her heart. He had done that too often in the past, but now he had promised himself he would do everything he can not to break her heart ever again.

Then she suddenly leaned over and kissed him. Her expression was one of utter female victory. Well, he might not be able to break her heart, he decided, but he definitely could make love to her.

With a grin he suddenly reached over and pulled her on top of him. As she fell he kissed her – deeper this time. She kissed back and his hands went around her ribs to the single tie that held her dress together at the back. As he pulled at the ends he grinned at her.

"I think you're going to need a couple more of these dresses," he told her. She frowned at him.

"Why?" she wanted to know.

"Well, you are the leader of almost a thousand Atlanteans, you know. You're going to have to dress the part," he said as her dress came loose.

"Somehow I don't think that's the real reason for getting more of these," she smiled.

Just then her dress fell open and John had to agree, that was another tempting reason. Then all thoughts fled as she leaned over once more to kiss him.


	12. Chapter 12

Rodney looked down at the small ring lying in the palm of his hand and realised that his palm was sweaty. Nervously he wiped both on his pants and promptly dropped the ring in the attempt. Cursing lightly, he bent over and picked it back up, dropping the ring in his pants pocket. As he did so his eyes fell on the blue bead he wore on his right wrist. A few of the men and most of the women wore the bead braided into their hair, and even though Rodney knew he was being difficult, he just couldn't bring himself to do so as well. Wearing the bead in his hair just made him look too much like a Star Wars padawan and Rodney wasn't an apprentice. After fixing this city up for years now, having her create a woman for him and then stealing this city he refused to be thought of as anything but a master.

But the bead – or rather the braid the bead was on – made Rodney swallow. Sitnalta had tried to convince him to wear it in his hair like she did, but when he had refused she had cut a single strand of hair and wound it around his right wrist, stringing the bead on it. So the part of the bracelet it now formed that had the blood flowing in the wrong direction was not the bead, but the fact that Sitnalta's hair was wrapped around his wrist. A strand of her silken hair; wrapped around his wrist...

He swallowed once more and put his hand behind his back, hoping that the mere fact of putting his hand out of sight would help him concentrate. It was just his bad luck that Sitnalta chose that moment to enter the room.

"Rodney, what's wrong?" she wanted to know after just one glance at his guilty-looking face.

"Um, nothing!" He brought his hand from behind his back. "Really, nothing," he assured her. She leaned back on one him, crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Look, there's nothing there!" he assured her once more as he held out his arm for inspection; extremely relieved he had taken the time to put the ring into his pocket.

As he held out his arm, she spotted the bracelet of hair and worry creased her forehead. Instantly she reached over and took his hand between her own small ones. Her touch really didn't help him to collect his thoughts, Rodney realised.

"Is it too tight?" she asked as she played her fingers over the blonde braid. Her eyes were large and questioning as she implored him to answer her.

He pulled his hand from hers and tried to get his thoughts together. Once more he put his hand – well, both hands – behind is back. "Um, I have to go to the mainland to – um," he started explaining as he gestured with his left hand. It was the hand furthest from Sitnalta and not tingling from her touch. "Um, I forgot I have to, um..." he tried again. Only minutes ago he had had a perfect excuse all worked out, but not all thoughts had flown from his mind. "Um..." he ended lamely.

She smiled at him. "I'll go with you," she informed him.

"Oh, that is...what?" his confused thoughts finally focussed on something. "You'll go with me? Great!" he exclaimed. "I'll just quickly go get my – um – jacket," he stammered, pointing in the general direction of 'behind him.' Damn, this wasn't going well, he scolded himself as he turned to fetch the piece of clothing. The last time he had been this nervous was when he had been dating – or trying to date – Katie Brown. But with Sitnalta everything had been much smoother from the start: she had first been a genius colleague and then she had been the one to effectively take matters concerning their relationship in her own hands. Not too often had it been required of him to guess at what the socially accepted norm of action should be, for she did not know it either. Instead he had been able to just be himself.

But this thing, tonight, he needed to get perfectly.

With his jacket on he turned towards the love of his life – and future mom of his kids – and smiled. "Well then, shall we go?" he smiled awkwardly. She smiled once more and hooked her arm through his as they set off towards the jumper bay. He only hoped the Athosians had done as Teyla had said they would. The previous night he had managed to talk to his teammate after the meeting and she had not only helped him figure out how to do this; she had also promised everything would be waiting on the mainland.

They entered the jumper bay and Rodney selected the jumper usually used by SGA-1. Not that he was superstitious or anything, he just felt that any jumper he was going to pilot ought to be one he had some familiarity with.

It took only slightly longer for them to get airborne than it would have had John been flying the thing. Okay, more than slightly longer, perhaps. But he was a scientist after all, not a pilot!

For the first half of the trip they flew in silence. By then he was wondering what she was thinking and the silence was eating at him. He looked at her and as he did so the jumper veered off to the right.

"Oh, wow, Rodney!" Sitnalta laughed and he steadied the craft once more. "Why didn't you ask me to pilot the jumper?" she grinned.

"I didn't know you could fly it," he answered, trying to keep the thing in a relatively straight line. She laughed, throwing her head back slightly to do so. Very nearly the jumper veered to the right again.

"Oh, love," she exclaimed, "of course I can fly them! I'm actually pretty good, too," she added.

His mouth fell open. "But, you told Lorne you couldn't! I know because he'd told me about the night you had asked him to go with you to go get Jeannie."

She laughed again, but her eyes seemed filled with mischief. "Of course I told him that! I needed someone to help carry the luggage," she explained. "And I wanted Evan to be the one to comfort Jeannie that night."

He frowned at that, but could not seem to get the meaning of her words sorted in his mind. Then it suddenly hit him. "You set them up!" he exclaimed. "I mean, you played match-maker between them!"

She tilted her head at the unfamiliar phrase. "I suppose so," she finally admitted. "He had seemed rather agitated that time we had heard she had been captured and I had thought he might be interested in her. So I thought it might be a good idea if he went with me to help," she explained. Then she looked out the window at the approaching land. "I never thought you wouldn't like Evan falling in love with your sister," she finally added softly.

Rodney felt like an ass. Again. He had wanted this evening and night to be perfect, but now he had gone and spoiled it and he hadn't even said anything insulting in an hour!

In silence they flew over the land. Beneath them the village passed by, but Sitnalta wasn't in a mood to ask him why he wasn't stopping. She merely stared out the window.

With as small a jolt as possible Rodney put the jumper down in a small clearing. He looked over at his lover and wished he had the same flair with women that John seemed to have. "Look, I know I shouldn't have been so – so..."

"Mean?" she supplied a word. He scowled slightly. "Yes, I shouldn't have been so mean to Lorne. He's a good guy and Jeannie seems to like him. Can we just go now?" he finally asked. She looked at him with her sky blue eyes. Then she smiled slightly and nodded.

"Good," he said and got up and preceded her to the back of the jumper. He pulled the release and together they stepped out into the night. The sun had set only moments ago and the sky was still painted deep red and purple above the tree tops. When she stood next to him, he took her hand and without a word started walking to the east. Then he realised after a moment he was heading north and turned around to head in the right direction.

He led her down a narrow path through the trees. After about a minute's walk the trees suddenly opened into another clearing and he pulled her in even as he felt her slight hesitation. Only when he had reached the middle of the clearing – and the rug thrown there – did he release her hand. In wonder she looked around her. The clearing was lit by hundreds of lanterns suspended from the trees, casting golden light over everything. On the rug a few dishes had been placed underneath a gauzy cloth.

When Sitnalta finally turned back to look at him, Rodney was on his knee. On cue a wooden flute started to play. Everything was perfect.

Except for the fact that Rodney couldn't get his hand into his pocket. So he held up his finger to forestall anything she might have said, got up and got the ring from his pocket. Then he kneeled again.

"Sitnalta, I know you never really had much choice in liking me, and I do know that I haven't always acted the way I should. For a start I really am sorry about yesterday," he started even as he mentally kicked himself for this speech. He had told himself he shouldn't be saying this to her: he should just propose. But sometimes his mouth and his head didn't work on the same level. He knew he was messing this up. "What I'm trying to say is...I hope..."

"Do you love me?" she interrupted him. He frowned.

"Of course I do, but what..."

"Just say it, Rodney," she prompted. Then he understood. He took a deep breath.

"Sitnalta, I love you. I know..." he began, but he trailed off in time. He held out the ring he had picked up only days ago. "Will you marry me?" he finally asked the big question.

For a long moment she looked at him. Then, slowly, she took the ring from him and smiled. "Of course I'll marry you, you big..."

This time it was he that interrupted her. Before she could tell him what she thought of him, he pulled her down onto the rug and kissed her. Together they tumbled onto the rug and as she lay in his arms she suddenly frowned at him. With some wriggling she got her own arms from beneath his body and up between them to hold the ring under the light. She gasped.

"It's perfect!" she exclaimed.

"Really, because I..." he began. But then he realised the part that he had been worried about had gone. She had agreed to be his wife! But she was frowning. "You don't like it?" he asked tentatively.

She shook her head. "No, you idiot. But I'm not really sure what to do with this ring," she admitted.

"Didn't those books tell you what to do with it?" he asked and she blushed.

"They weren't too specific about which finger it has to go on at that stage of the book," she explained.

Carefully, even as the music faded, he took the small ring from her hands and placed it on her finger: the correct one. Then he kissed her fingertips.

"I really love you, you know," he seriously told her. She smiled softly.

"I know. I love you too," she assured him before she leaned down to kiss him.

**The End**


	13. Epilogue

Jack O'Neill sat back in his seat and looked at the blonde woman sitting at the head of the table and smiled. She looked slightly worried, but underneath the slight frown she seemed to be glowing. Well, he sincerely hoped he had something to do with that! Well, seeing as it was less than a month since he and Sam had been married, he supposed he had everything to do with it. Especially after this morning, he smiled and put his hands behind his head. At the movement Samantha O'Neill, once Samantha Carter, looked over at her husband and smiled slightly. Jack's grin widened.

Before either one of them could say anything, the briefing room of the SGC lit up with a bright white light. Moments later the light dissipated and Colonel Caldwell stood at the other end of the table.

"Show off," Daniel Jackson mumbled just loud enough for Jack and Sam to hear. In fact, it was only the three of them at the table: Daniel still had an interest in whatever happened to Atlantis and he still sulked at times that he hadn't been allowed to go on the Atlantis mission. But then again, then he would never have met Vala, would he?

"General O'Neill, General O'Neill," Caldwell nodded at the commander of the SGC and Jack. He grinned slightly and Jack had the insane urge to smack the man. No wonder he and Doctor Weir had never really liked one another, Jack mused. Caldwell inclined his head towards Daniel. "Doctor Jackson," he ended the round of greetings.

"Colonel Caldwell," Sam greeted. "Please, sit," she said indicating a seat. With a slight tightening of his mouth the commander of the  _Daedalus_  sat down.

"You wished to see me?" he said as he laced his fingers together in front of him on the table.

"I have a request to make," Sam answered. Jack sighed: Caldwell wasn't going to make this easy for her. He leaned forward.

"Actually, Colonel, I'm the one with the request," he interrupted the drawn-out round of speeches he just knew was coming. Caldwell still had a bee up his pants about the theft of Atlantis. Jack also suspected Caldwell suspected Sam might have had something to do with it. "I would like to join your mission to find Atlantis," he explained the request to the Colonel.

"Excuse me, did you say you want to take the  _Daedalus_  to go and search for Atlantis?" the other man sneered. Jack nearly grinned with pleasure at his face. Then he remembered he didn't need to pander to the other man's feelings and grinned anyway.

"Well, I wasn't really planning on taking the  _Daedalus_ , but if you insist..." he trailed off, giving the Colonel his best grin and spreading his hands. Below the big table Sam kicked him.

Caldwell wasn't falling for his charm. "I wouldn't even know where to start looking," he said in that slightly irritating way of his. Sometimes Jack wondered if the man wasn't just lazy: that might explain why he always grumbled about everything.

"Yes, well, we've thought of that," Daniel eagerly joined the conversation. He leaned forward. "All of us have some experience with the group that – um – took Atlantis. We also know they would have needed to have three working ZPM's to return to the Pegasus galaxy," he started on his long explanation. Jack felt it was about time to interrupt his friend, seeing as the man would undoubtedly continue to lay out the complete set of reasons it had taken them over four months to put together.

"What Daniel is trying to say is that we have a strong reason to believe they would have taken Atlantis back to the planet it had originally been on," Jack helped his friend along.

"The point is, Colonel," Sam said in her best leader-of-the-base-voice. Jack thought it was incredibly sexy. "We think they have returned to the planet they call Lantea and your new orders are to take General O'Neill with you." As she spoke Jack leaned forward and idly sat with his hands beneath the table. His left hand, though, strayed to lie on Sam's knee. "I know he is retired," she continued with barely a pause. "But the Atlantis people trust him. We think they might be willing to respond to his hails."

Caldwell sat and looked at them with his eyes narrowed. Finally he asked: "Who is the 'we?'" This time Jack very nearly did get up to hit the man for his impertinent remark. Did the man not realise Sam was his superior? Only her hand grabbing Jack's saved the Colonel from a bloody nose.

"Well, we do," Daniel innocently answered and Jack rolled his eyes. "Jack and Sam and I," he continued. "Oh, and of course Teal'c and..."

"The point is, Colonel," Sam answered; stressing his title. "The IOA and the president have approved this mission," she told him. “The only request not coming through those channels is the one to take my husband with you," Sam added and Jack simply loved the sound of her calling him 'my husband.' She would probably be embarrassed later when she realised what she had said – she was still a stickler for 'keeping things professional.' Jack didn't mind, though. He'll probably use every opportunity the next few months to work that fact into every conversation with Caldwell.

Now Caldwell leaned back in his seat. "I see I have little choice in the matter," he finally agreed. "Very well, we'll leave as soon as the ship has been loaded," he told Jack.

Jack just grinned.


End file.
